Sat. Oct 12, 2019 8:40 AM - 10:20 AM Room 12 (503)

Organizer / Chair: ‌Suresh SUNDRAM (Department of Psychiatry, School of Clinical Sciences, Monash University and Monash Health, Australia), Co-chair: Toshiya MURAI (Department of Psychiatry, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Japan), Discussant: ‌Kyung Joon MIN (Department of Psychiatry, Chung-Ang University, Korea)

The global increase in the awareness of mental health has coincided with the revolution of precision medicine and the possibility of personalised treatments. These advances have been absent in psychiatry due to the lack of biological markers and the imprecision of current nosologies. These shortcomings then have delayed the development of diagnostic tests and disease modifying treatments. The Asia-Pacific region is ideally placed to address these limitations due to access to large sample populations and the introduction of emergent technologies. This symposium presents varying approaches to these issues.
Sundram describes how work examining the mechanism of action of clozapine has identified epidermal growth factor system dysfunction that extends beyond treatment resistant schizophrenia to include a sub-group of mood disorder patients. Si presents research examining how multiple approaches can converge to assist understanding of the effects of antipsychotic drugs on neurodevelopment and the implications for adult behaviour. Srisurapanont presents clinical work demonstrating the differences in phenomenology based on cultural and ethnic factors that potentially influence the taxonomy of mood disorders.
Together, these presentations highlight the diversities of approaches across the region that can be brought to bear on developing new avenues in diagnosing and treating psychiatric disorders.